Does anyone know how well these smaller streaming services are doing? My hope is that they just fail from lower viewership and then go back to licensing their content to Netflix/Hulu/Amazon.
Buster Scruggs was, as most have said, a mix of good and less good.
The only one i didn't really like was Meal Ticket, and even that one had a bit off absurdist charm. But i feel the whole thing would've played better if they'd lopped off some of the weaker stories (Meal Ticket and Gold Valley?) and cut the whole thing down to 100 minutes or so.
The title story, though, was glorious.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
Buster Scruggs was, as most have said, a mix of good and less good.
The only one i didn't really like was Meal Ticket, and even that one had a bit off absurdist charm. But i feel the whole thing would've played better if they'd lopped off some of the weaker stories (Meal Ticket and Gold Valley?) and cut the whole thing down to 100 minutes or so.
Also, there was a moment in that one where i thought it was going to be revealed that the kid was limbless because they'd been eating him out of desperation.
ElJeffe on
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
Also, there was a moment in that one where i thought it was going to be revealed that the kid was limbless because they'd been eating him out of desperation.
Oh. I liked that one until the utterly horrifying ending but then I have a number of friends that are paraplegic so it kinda went "Oh, neat a quadriplegic carved out a niche in a society that would probably kill him and... oh, well that fucking sucks."
The one I really think the movie could have done without and not been the lesser would have been the final one. The direction it was heading was.. kind of obvious? Particularly compared to the others. It's a very played story element.
The Gal Who Got Rattled is maybe the most emotional bit of storytelling the Coens have ever made. They are frequently accused of being aloof and not getting into their characters' emotions, but there was no sign of that here.
madparrot on
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
I’d say you know it’s a good anthology when no one can agree on a definitive ranking.
I liked Gold Valley, too, and I dug the ending. It's just that some of the pieces needed to go.
Thinking about it, most of the stories had this long, slow build up, and then stuff started happening, and then the story ended, and then you start another story with long, slow build up. So most of the movie is long, slow build up. Two and a quarter hours of that is a bit taxing.
I'd definitely keep Buster, that's a no brainer. Mortal Remains was a little trite, but it was punchy and brisk and full of entertaining performances, so I'd keep it as a palette cleanser, but maybe put it in the middle. I might closer on Girl Who Got Rattled, because it was a powerful piece of storytelling, though it would close the movie on a down note.
The Franco one was another fun bit, and short, so I'd probably keep that.
Meal Ticket and Gold Valley are both like 90% montage, and coming in the middle they just both really drag, even though i liked the story Gold Valley was telling and loved how it closed out.
Maybe I'd lose Meal and organize the rest as:
Buster Scruggs
Gold Valley
James Franco Robs a Bank
Mortal Remains
Girl
And actually, closing the film out on a shot of the man in black from Scruggs singing a song might have been kinda fun and given it a more upbeat finish and a sense of completeness.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
I would have watched a whole movie just about Buster Scruggs
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
I’ve watched just the Buster Scruggs part about 20 times already, to the point where the analytics better show a big spike on the first ten minutes of the movie and realize they should make another handful of Scruggs shorts
Gold Valley was my favorite, next to the Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
There's just something about it. Maybe it's the setting. That little valley is beautiful. I kinda wanna go there.
And dig for gold.
Plus there's the added tension on a re-watch
when you remember that the gold panner isn't dead. That loooong after shot where the shooter pauses and sits. Rolls a cigarette. Takes a drag. Puts it away.
All the while thinkin' of what incredible pain it must be not to move or cry out or make a sound while he's playin' dead.
I needed a good show to sink a lot of time into, something that had a lot of seasons available, so I finally got around to starting Mad Men.
Most of the first season seemed to be a lot of "Man, didn't society used to be fucked up? Crazy, right?" but I'm nearing the end of the season and I'm starting to get pretty invested in the characters, interested to see where it goes.
I told my girlfriend I started watching it and she was like "Wait, isn't the actress who plays Sabrina in the new one in that show? I remember seeing it on her page while we were watching Sabrina and I looked her up." She's Draper's daughter who's like 8 years old in the show, that was a mindfuck.
Yeah, I thought that young Tonya Harding in I, Tonya was Kiernan Shipka. It was McKenna Grace, who is actually playing Young Sabrina in the Christmas episode.
I needed a good show to sink a lot of time into, something that had a lot of seasons available, so I finally got around to starting Mad Men.
Most of the first season seemed to be a lot of "Man, didn't society used to be fucked up? Crazy, right?" but I'm nearing the end of the season and I'm starting to get pretty invested in the characters, interested to see where it goes.
I told my girlfriend I started watching it and she was like "Wait, isn't the actress who plays Sabrina in the new one in that show? I remember seeing it on her page while we were watching Sabrina and I looked her up." She's Draper's daughter who's like 8 years old in the show, that was a mindfuck.
The first episode of GLOW sure did want us to know that this wasn't Annie from Community.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
The first episode of Bodyguard was so tense I stayed you too way late immediately watching the next two. Haven't felt the need to go back to so far because the second episode plot point rubbed me really wrong
I hate the love story between him and the home secretary. Between the retaliation for the train, his PTSD, distaste for his protectee, and his former comrade running a terrorist cell there was plenty of tension to be mined. Them sleeping together feels so damn hacky and perfunctory.
Thanks for the encouragement. Turns out I was only halfway through ep 3. Finished that and 4 yesterday and then 5/6 today. Still think it drags from half way through 2 until the last quarter of 3 but man, once it ramps up again it doesn't let go. Episode 6 was unbelievably intense in spots.
When he was disarming the vest I was legitimately worried that if it suddenly exploded I was going to bite my tongue.
When Julia had David drive her in secret where did they go? Was it the PM's residence so she could use the compromat? The MPs used a specific name but I don't know enough about English political locations to catch it.
Carpy on
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
It's a marshmallow world in the winter, but the new netflix additions shouldn't be so sticky!
-8Mile
-Big Lebowski
-Christine (!)
-Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (and a kids cartoon showed up as well)
-Friday (the entire Friday trilogy actually but shhhh no trilogy, no trilogy)
-In the Army Now (!)
-The Lobster
-Shaun of the Dead (!)
-Terminator Salvation
Thanks for the encouragement. Turns out I was only halfway through ep 3. Finished that and 4 yesterday and then 5/6 today. Still think it drags from half way through 2 until the last quarter of 3 but man, once it ramps up again it doesn't let go. Episode 6 was unbelievably intense in spots.
When he was disarming the vest I was legitimately worried that if it suddenly exploded I was going to bite my tongue.
When Julia had David drive her in secret where did they go? Was it the PM's residence so she could use the compromat? The MPs used a specific name but I don't know enough about English political locations to catch it.
I think they said Chequers, which is the PM's official country residence (i.e. a nice big house in the country in which the PM can hold more informal talks, rather than the cabinet offices or Downing Street).
My only real complaint is that I hate when shows decide that everything should be kinda perpetually dim and grey. Like it feels like it is overcast in every scene. Even indoors.
My only real complaint is that I hate when shows decide that everything should be kinda perpetually dim and grey. Like it feels like it is overcast in every scene. Even indoors.
Then again I guess it is set in London.
British broadcast politicial eurothrillers have cornered the market on gloomy since their inception. I think only the Swedes do it better, and that usually involves the added bonus of a grisly murder in a small town on the edge of the world.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
It's a marshmallow world in the winter, but the new netflix additions shouldn't be so sticky!
-8Mile
-Big Lebowski
-Christine (!)
-Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (and a kids cartoon showed up as well)
-Friday (the entire Friday trilogy actually but shhhh no trilogy, no trilogy)
-In the Army Now (!)
-The Lobster
-Shaun of the Dead (!)
-Terminator Salvation
Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon is on Netflix today.
So I watched the first episode of the latest season of Doctor Who and was underwhelmed by it. And then I thought to myself, you know, I don't think I'm really a Doctor Who fan so much as a fan of what Russell T Davies did with Doctor Who back when he was showrunner. So instead of watching more DW I realized I needed to seek out more of RTD's work. And I found out he did a short miniseries about a real life scandal in the 1970s involving an evil gay closeted politician and murder, and I'm like, yessss, this is 100% relevant to my interests.
A Very English Scandal is very good! It's funny, it's got pathos. Hugh Grant is brilliant in it. It touches on all sorts of interesting themes, including the perennial disconnect between older and younger members of the LGBT community. It's timely - the court scenes kept making me think of the Kavanaugh hearings. It's got delightful dialogue like this:
[over breakfast, Marion is questioning Jeremy about his "Bunnies can - and will - go to France" love letter to Norman Scott which has just been published in the newspapers]
Marion Thorpe: "Bunnies"?
Jeremy Thorpe: Technically he was "Bunny", singular.
Marion Thorpe: Then why did you say "Bunnies"? Were there two of you? Are *you* a Bunny? Am I married to a Bunny?
Jeremy Thorpe: No, I was using a generic noun in an imperative clause.
Marion Thorpe: Well, thank God it's grammatically correct.
And, as an added bonus, while I presume that the scandal is well known in the UK, since I'm American I had no idea how things were going to turn out.
A Very English Scandal is one of the best bits of telly from the last decade or so. Hugh Grant is absolutely incredible in it. The scene at the end
where he remembers the other lovers he's had and explains simply and heartbreakingly why he loved Ben Wishaw is a beautiful piece of writing and storytelling.
What makes me worry, outside of Hulu just buying rights because they have Papa Disney’s money, is that it makes me wonder if they won’t just push Sony (Funimations owner) into the whole endeavor with ABC/NBC/Fox, basically just have Hulu absorb Crackle and Sony TV, which makes this even greater beast that must be slain.
I binged Maniac and god damn I liked it and Emma Stone is an incredible actor holy shit
Jonah Hill was also pretty fantastic. Loved maniac, one of my favourite series of recent times. Just such a great mix of... well, basically everything I like.
I binged Maniac and god damn I liked it and Emma Stone is an incredible actor holy shit
Jonah Hill was also pretty fantastic. Loved maniac, one of my favourite series of recent times. Just such a great mix of... well, basically everything I like.
I would recommend it to most of my friends, If it wasn't for the gangster elements, specifically:
heads getting drilled out in a bloody fashion.
That limits the audience I feel. My girlfriend would not really like those parts.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
What makes me worry, outside of Hulu just buying rights because they have Papa Disney’s money, is that it makes me wonder if they won’t just push Sony (Funimations owner) into the whole endeavor with ABC/NBC/Fox, basically just have Hulu absorb Crackle and Sony TV, which makes this even greater beast that must be slain.
Posts
This is their inevitable fate.
The only one i didn't really like was Meal Ticket, and even that one had a bit off absurdist charm. But i feel the whole thing would've played better if they'd lopped off some of the weaker stories (Meal Ticket and Gold Valley?) and cut the whole thing down to 100 minutes or so.
The title story, though, was glorious.
Which one was meal ticket?
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Thinking about it, most of the stories had this long, slow build up, and then stuff started happening, and then the story ended, and then you start another story with long, slow build up. So most of the movie is long, slow build up. Two and a quarter hours of that is a bit taxing.
I'd definitely keep Buster, that's a no brainer. Mortal Remains was a little trite, but it was punchy and brisk and full of entertaining performances, so I'd keep it as a palette cleanser, but maybe put it in the middle. I might closer on Girl Who Got Rattled, because it was a powerful piece of storytelling, though it would close the movie on a down note.
The Franco one was another fun bit, and short, so I'd probably keep that.
Meal Ticket and Gold Valley are both like 90% montage, and coming in the middle they just both really drag, even though i liked the story Gold Valley was telling and loved how it closed out.
Maybe I'd lose Meal and organize the rest as:
Buster Scruggs
Gold Valley
James Franco Robs a Bank
Mortal Remains
Girl
And actually, closing the film out on a shot of the man in black from Scruggs singing a song might have been kinda fun and given it a more upbeat finish and a sense of completeness.
There's just something about it. Maybe it's the setting. That little valley is beautiful. I kinda wanna go there.
And dig for gold.
Plus there's the added tension on a re-watch
All the while thinkin' of what incredible pain it must be not to move or cry out or make a sound while he's playin' dead.
Most of the first season seemed to be a lot of "Man, didn't society used to be fucked up? Crazy, right?" but I'm nearing the end of the season and I'm starting to get pretty invested in the characters, interested to see where it goes.
I told my girlfriend I started watching it and she was like "Wait, isn't the actress who plays Sabrina in the new one in that show? I remember seeing it on her page while we were watching Sabrina and I looked her up." She's Draper's daughter who's like 8 years old in the show, that was a mindfuck.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6444361/McKenna-Grace-cast-play-younger-Kiernan-Shipka-Netflixs-Chilling-Adventures-Sabrina.html
Also, for next season...
https://youtu.be/SM64ZaS40Xs
And now rewatch Community and Glow
Thanks for the encouragement. Turns out I was only halfway through ep 3. Finished that and 4 yesterday and then 5/6 today. Still think it drags from half way through 2 until the last quarter of 3 but man, once it ramps up again it doesn't let go. Episode 6 was unbelievably intense in spots.
When Julia had David drive her in secret where did they go? Was it the PM's residence so she could use the compromat? The MPs used a specific name but I don't know enough about English political locations to catch it.
-8Mile
-Big Lebowski
-Christine (!)
-Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (and a kids cartoon showed up as well)
-Friday (the entire Friday trilogy actually but shhhh no trilogy, no trilogy)
-In the Army Now (!)
-The Lobster
-Shaun of the Dead (!)
-Terminator Salvation
I think they said Chequers, which is the PM's official country residence (i.e. a nice big house in the country in which the PM can hold more informal talks, rather than the cabinet offices or Downing Street).
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
My only real complaint is that I hate when shows decide that everything should be kinda perpetually dim and grey. Like it feels like it is overcast in every scene. Even indoors.
Then again I guess it is set in London.
British broadcast politicial eurothrillers have cornered the market on gloomy since their inception. I think only the Swedes do it better, and that usually involves the added bonus of a grisly murder in a small town on the edge of the world.
Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon is on Netflix today.
Time for my yearly-ish rewatch!
Highly recommended for fans of movies or fans of being deeply uncomfortable
A Very English Scandal is very good! It's funny, it's got pathos. Hugh Grant is brilliant in it. It touches on all sorts of interesting themes, including the perennial disconnect between older and younger members of the LGBT community. It's timely - the court scenes kept making me think of the Kavanaugh hearings. It's got delightful dialogue like this:
And, as an added bonus, while I presume that the scandal is well known in the UK, since I'm American I had no idea how things were going to turn out.
Highly recommended. In America it's streaming on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Very-English-Scandal-Season/dp/B07D3DFM34
It's also gloriously funny.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3gQ117IKkM
Won't even watch trailer, too scared
What makes me worry, outside of Hulu just buying rights because they have Papa Disney’s money, is that it makes me wonder if they won’t just push Sony (Funimations owner) into the whole endeavor with ABC/NBC/Fox, basically just have Hulu absorb Crackle and Sony TV, which makes this even greater beast that must be slain.
I skimmed the trailer on my phone and didn't see anything that indicates it will be remotely as brutal as the original animation.
I'm actually kind of disappointed.
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
Jonah Hill was also pretty fantastic. Loved maniac, one of my favourite series of recent times. Just such a great mix of... well, basically everything I like.
That limits the audience I feel. My girlfriend would not really like those parts.
I just started a Funimation account.
Oops.